Saturday, May 12, 2018

San Francisco here we come!

We drove into San Francisco today, crossing the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The toll for all of the bridges is $5.00 going in and free coming out.

Twenty lanes going into the toll booth. Five lanes on the bridge. Traffic on the bridge. Skyline from the bridge. View of the bridge. View of the Bay from the bridge.

Touring

We took a two-and-a-half hour narrated city bus tour. We decided not to get off at any of the stops, but can go back and do that today. (Only some of the busses have a wheelchair ramp.) Our package also includes a night tour. Of course, we weren’t on the top (which was open) and the windows were screened where we sat so that made it more difficult to see and impossible to take pictures. The narration was through ear phones and you could dial in several different languages. It was very interesting.

On the Pier

We spent the rest of the day and evening on Pier 39, looking in lots of shops, eating dinner, checking out the double decker carousel, watching the sea lions, eating funnel fries, and watching street performers. Then we couldn’t find where we parked our car. (We need a homing GPS on Jim’s phone!)

[These are web pics as Jim hasn’t downloaded his yet.]

CLAY PROJECT

Jim bought me a “Mother’s Day” teapot at Aquarium of the Bay.It was hard to choose just one as they had so many interesting sea life teapots. But this one reminded me of the clay fish that Jim made last year in a clay-puzzling workshop with Michael Harbridge. I think making one of these would be great fun, especially for the kids (and also for me). It starts with a vase clay-puzzling mold, then you add the rest of the features and get really creative. Please let me know if you are interested. You will need to let it dry at least a week before firing, then come back to glaze it or paint it at home with acrylics. Workshop is $20.00 and includes both classes.

CERAMIC PROJECTS

Pier 39 is know for its sea lions and, of course, boats of many shapes and sizes. Here are a couple of “soft-sculpture” projects that we have (left the seal or sea lion bookends catalog picture; right a tugboat from our fishing-themed baby shower).

If you want to order bisque or finished pieces to be mailed, please send PM
with your email address for billing and your mailing address for shipping.
Bisque will be poured in June. If you want to order bisque to paint in class, send PM.
In either case you can also email CarolsCarouselCreations@gmail.com